Recent changes to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require a layer of head impact foam to be positioned beneath headliners in certain vehicles. This new requirement creates a design and assembly problem for automotive interior pull handles which are normally positioned on vehicle headliners.
Such pull handles must support substantial loads, and must also pinch against the headliner so that the opening in the headliner is not exposed. In order to accomplish this, the pull handle must be designed with a thin protruding portion which protrudes through the headliner, and further through the head impact foam for attachment to the sheet metal. In this manner, the headliner may be pinched by the end of the pull handle body portion in order to cover up the opening formed in the headliner. However, the protruding portion must be designed as a substantially thick member in order to support the required loads. In order to accomplish this thick protruding portion, the entire pull handle must be made substantially larger, which is not desirable for manufacturing, handling, or aesthetic purposes.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a plastic pull handle assembly with a main body portion having generally the same size and appearance of typical pull handles, while providing the capability of extending through a head impact foam layer while pinching against the headliner to obscure the opening in the headliner, while providing substantial mechanical strength.
It is further desirable that the pull handle assembly be assembled integrally with the headliner so that the pull handle assembly and headliner may be shipped as a single assembly unit, and installed simultaneously in the vehicle as a single unit.